LGs of JK, Ladakh to attend with delegations
Development, security, drug smuggling, cyber crime to figure
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Sept 20: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to chair the North Zone Council (NZC) meeting at Amritsar on September 26 in which top representatives from the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh will also participate. Development, inter-State/UT issues, security scenario etc will be taken up at the meeting.
Official sources told the Excelsior that Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Additional Chief Secretary and Financial Commissioner (Home) RK Goyal and Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh are likely to represent Jammu and Kashmir at the NZC meeting.
Ladakh Lieutenant Governor Brig (Retd) BD Mishra, Advisor to Lieutenant Governor Dr Pawan Kotwal and Head of Police UT of Ladakh Dr Shiv Darshan Singh Jamwal are expected to attend the meeting.
The North Zone Council comprises Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, NCT of Delhi, Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The meeting to be chaired by Amit Shah will be held at Amritsar in Punjab and attended by Chief Ministers of Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, Lieutenant Governors of J&K and Ladakh and Administrator of Chandigarh along with their delegations.
“Development, security situation and inter-State/UT issues of member States and Union Territories are likely to be taken up at the meeting,” the sources said, adding the meeting will be addressed by Shah and heads of the States/UTs.
They said the States/Union Territories are free to raise their issues at the meeting.
Decisions taken at the previous North Zone Council meeting will also be taken up to review their implementation.
“Apart from security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, the issue of drug smuggling is also expected to be figure prominently at the North Zone Council meeting,” the sources said, adding that the issue of narcotics has been serious in JK and Punjab.
Police and security agencies of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab have been regularly meeting to discuss ways and means to contain drug trade and smuggling from across the border.
Besides drug smuggling, sometimes, the consignments of weaponry are also smuggled into Jammu and Kashmir from Punjab. Police have foiled such attempts on the National Highway and other places and seized consignments of weapons and cash being smuggled into the Kashmir valley from Punjab.
Development works of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are also expected to figure at the meeting, the sources said, adding the administration of both the Union Territories have been finalizing detailed presentation for the North Zone Council.
Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have no major inter-UT issues between them excepting posting of a number of civil and police officers who are on deputation from J&K to Ladakh but this process, according to the sources, is going on smoothly.
Issues like cyber crime and radicalization are also likely to be taken up at the meeting including the steps being taken by the States and Union Territories to contain the menace, the sources said.
The Union Home Ministry has also taken up series of initiatives to curb cyber crime and radicalization and advised the States and Union Territories to take all possible measures against this. Special Cells have also been set up to tackle cyber crime.
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